A midfielder, Capello first played for SPAL, making his debut in 1964. Three seasons later he moved to Roma where he became a key player for the club and won his first trophy, the Italian Cup, in 1969. He was then a mainstay for Juventus in the 1970s, who were the dominant Italian team of the decade, and with whom he won the Scudetto three times. Capello ended his career as player with AC Milan in 1980, having won his fourth Scudetto in 1979.

Capello also represented Italy 32 times. Ironically, he is particularly remembered for a goal with which Italy beat England 1-0 at Wembley for the first time in their history on 14 November 1973.

As a manager, Capello has managed in four major European cities - Milan, Madrid, Rome, and Turin and won league titles with AC Milan, Real Madrid and Roma.

Capello began his coaching career with AC Milan, graduating to the first team in 1991. He brought huge success to the club winning four Serie A titles in five seasons and overseeing European Cup success with a memorable 4-0 victory in the final over Barcelona in 1994. The team, which included players such as Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi, earned the nickname, "The Invincibles". Under Capello, Milan remained unbeaten for 58 league games between 19 May 1991 and 21 March 1993, which included an entire season where they were unbeaten in the league.

A season at Real Madrid followed where the team won La Liga in 1997. After a brief return to AC Milan, Capello joined Roma in 1999 and won the Scudetto in 2001. This was Roma's first major honour in a decade and only the third time they had been crowned Champions of Italy. In the same year, Capello was again victorious with Roma in the Supercoppa Italiana.

In 2004 Capello moved to Juventus, securing two more league titles in 2005 and 2006. He returned to Madrid in 2006, winning La Liga once again, before accepting the role of England manager.

It was the custom for the manager of the England National Team to be invited to be President of the League Managers Association. When Fabio Capello became England manager on 14 December 2007, he was delighted to accept the role as LMA President.

Capello entered English football universally acknowledged as one of the most successful managers of all time.

Capello's first game in charge of England saw a victory over Switzerland. Under Capello, England opened their qualifying campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a 2–0 victory over Andorra. After impressive wins against Kazakhstan and Croatia, England completed their best ever start to a World Cup qualifying campaign with a fourth straight win beating Belarus 3–1. England rounded out 2008 by beating Germany 2-1 inflicting the first defeat Germany had suffered in Berlin in thirty-five years.

During qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2010, the 4-1 victory in Zagreb was Croatia's first competitive home defeat. On the 9th September 2009, Capello successfully guided England to qualification to the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa following a 5-1 win at home to Croatia.

In South Africa, Capello then successfully guided England through the group stages of the competition but were then eliminated to Germany in the round of 16.

After a successful qualifying campaign for Euro 2012, Capello later resigned after just over four years in the role.